In many industries there are regulations requiring that workers wear flame resistant clothing to protect them in the event of a flash fires from combustibles such as oil and gas, dust or electrical arc flash. The success or failure of any flame resistant clothing is determined by a percentage of body burn during a 3 second, staged, flash fire. Body burn is only considered significant when third degree burns are achieved. Second and First degree burns are not considered burns for this test. The head is not even considered in these calculations of body burn, but every simulation shows 100% third degree burns to the head and face area. This makes abundantly clear that there is a great need for protection for the head and face area.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,831 (Wells et al) entitled “deployable face mask” discloses one approach to protecting the head and face area.